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Just confirmed the shooter was a Korean, not Chinese as previously reported. So much for the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson coming out to say they were concerned just in case if he was Chinese.

At first when I saw the news, it was "Not again", only when they said the death toll of 33 had surpassed that of Columbine did it really hit me how very serious it was, and the shooter was a foreigner even, who so easily obtained a gun. Perhaps it's a good thing he wasn't a member of any terrorist organizations the Americans go hysterical about.

I was reading on it where I read a comment by some Nice Vision company spokesman whose company made or provided School security and surveillance system. All he was talking about was blaming the lack of school security and how legislation should increase it blah blah. I thought what a shameless attempt at trying pull a quick profit off this. No better than an ambulance chaser.

Well, if the shooter had some connection with some religious groups or something there would be hell to pay.

I can testify to the fact that the sirens were sounded on Tech campus. Both my roommate and I heard them yesterday morning when we stepped outside (we live within walking distance of Va. Tech) to walk our dog. There was also a press conference aired on the radio stations here (I'm not sure if it was aired on television or other networks) with the President of V. tech. He stated that the sirens went off not long after the first shooting incident and the emails soon followed. I know that more could've been done to prevent a lot of what happened, but I also think that it was near impossible to stop 25,000+ students from pouring into the campus. Va. Tech is an incredibly large campus and takes up a decent 75% of Blacksburg (the town isn't that big)-I believe that the President of the campus did what he could within his power to control the situation. As for the police...well...ahem.
K92.3 (local popular radio station) had an on-air interview with a victim who was in Norris during the shooting. He stated that the gunman looked as though he were heavily armed and well prepared for what he was doing. What I found intriguing (heroic even) about his story is that he claimed he and two of his classmates stood against him. They formed a human chain to block their doorway from his entering after he had already made a round through their classroom and killed their prof. and other students. When he fought back they resisted until one of them got shot in the leg and narrowly missed being shot again (the door frame was shot instead). Where were the police? They were outside "securing the perimeter" pointing their guns at the building and patiently waiting for him to come out with his hands in the air. Come on. I find it infuriating that the students had to take their lives into their own hands when there were armed policemen (sent there to save them) standing around outside waiting for something drastic to happen. And where the heck was the SWAT team? These students were scared out of their minds and jumping out of second story windows trying to save themselves while they stood around twidling their thumbs. I don't get it.

In all this tragedy, the news of the bravery of at least some of the students is very comforting to hear.

Can we avoid a ton of spam posts about this? I notice BANNED in the status, obviously for a reason. THANK YOU INTERNET!

Ok humor aside. I have been reading articles about this on MSN and Yahoo. Pretty intense. I do agree with the viewpoint that if someone is licensed to carry/carry concealed, there should be relatively few places that a person should have to remove/not bring his/her firearm. In seriousness, someone who gets their piece registered, and gets licensed to carry it would be highly unlikely to use it to committ crime. This could have indeed, changed the way the events took place. I highly doubt that someone offing the gunman would have gotten into any hot water... more likely some praise and commendations for doing a civil service.

I recall when the Columbine shootings took place... I was in high school at the time, and it created a mass panic sort of mindset. All of a sudden, my friends and I were cause for concern, just because of how we dressed. I certainly hope this does not lead to any sort of stereotyping, or hasty conclusions when it comes to college students (has there been any articles detailing what might have been happening in the shooter's life to trigger such a psychotic break? Was it confirmed that this person was a student?). Most of the info I have read hasn't let too many details out.

I don't really know what to say though, I mean, this is pretty heavy. I don't necessarily feel sympathy, as I openly admit to being a bit cold and callous...but I am a bit dumbfounded by the whole thing. I also read that the police were late in sending warnings to the campus as well. If classes had been cancelled, I think things would have definitely turned out different as well.

Not entirely sure what to think about this whole affair, but I am left wondering what the repercussions might be.

A lot of people told me that it was Bush fault but is not (i have to say i'm not a bush fan ) , but he can do something. But now i think, there's not much bush can do , if he prohibit guns, i don't think things like this would stop .

This guy should have been bad treated by others, because i can't think of another reason to this.
it may have been a mental illness that went untreated and probably made fun of until this happened.

May god bless the victims souls and the loved ones of the victims who so unjustly had their loved ones torn away from them.

I hope something, anything, good comes out of this. Whether it be a generally safer campuses or a more effective warning systems or whatever.

So many lives just wasted.

I wonder if there are going to be lots of violent reprisals against Koreans and Asians in general because of this. One of the worst cases of violence in school history anywhere in the US and it has to be someone who stands out of the crowd so to speak.

__________________

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anybody driving faster is a maniac?" – George Carlin

Unfortunately, few who committ any violent acts are always of sane mind. And some people don't need an excuse to go hurt someone. Even that psycho student didn't have any good reason whatsoever. Hell, there are no good reasons at all period.

__________________

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anybody driving faster is a maniac?" – George Carlin

Liviu Librescu --- one of the heroes of the day. My respects to his family.

Separately:
I continue to be dumbfounded by the university police reasoning for not reacting more strongly after the first issue. Domestic violence homicides including a bystander --- means you've got a distraught individual with a gun who DOESN'T CARE ANYMORE. That was a stunning lack of psychological insight.

At the university I attended, a homicide like that would have been cause for a massive police/security response. Massive d'oh.

Just as an update, the NYT times reported that the shooter.... a resident alien from South Korea *purchased* a gun from a local gunshop. Last time I checked, resident aliens were not allowed to purchase guns (though the rules might be different in that state - I thought the restriction was a federal rule).

When *I* buy a gun.. I have to produce a lot identification and fill out a lot of paperwork. I suspect that gundealer is toast... at least I hope he is.

Just as an update, the NYT times reported that the shooter.... a resident alien from South Korea *purchased* a gun from a local gunshop. Last time I checked, resident aliens were not allowed to purchase guns (though the rules might be different in that state - I thought the restriction was a federal rule).

When *I* buy a gun.. I have to produce a lot identification and fill out a lot of paperwork. I suspect that gundealer is toast... at least I hope he is.

In all likelihood, the gun dealer is probably done for as far as his business and reputation is concerned, whether or not it was a valid purchase.

Immigrant aliens can purchase guns, provided they can prove their status and reisdence. Non-immigrant resident aliens, such as he was, are able to purchase guns provided they have a valid hunting license and can prove their status and state residence for the past 90 days.

These are based on ATF regulations, rather than actual legislative decisions.

I have yet to hear mention of a hunting license being presented at the purchase. The fact that the serial numbers were filed off lends itself to the idea that he was trying to cover something up, but it may just be because he wanted to keep it from being traced to him should he have gotten away (assuming his suicide wasn't planned).